“These are the times that try men's souls.” | carlsoncl - 3/24/2020 12:27
If one gets right down to it, the ranchers of the west are Real Estate Holding companies......riding inflation. The cow herd is there to pay taxes and pay day to day operations. If a ranch has a windfall year intermediate assets get replaced. Large ranches of scale can add to their real estate portfolios. The 500 cow ranch could not service the debt (land/cattle)to expand to 1000 head. I’m bad at explaining things but ranching is the most generational business there is. I work with a lot of ranches......I give them a check that is 85% of their gross income. I see that number and the number of acres and cows they own and it makes me scratch my head!
Carlsoncl, you pretty much summed it up. Yes most bigger ranches are holding that real estate since the late 1800's. It might be that each generation of that family only adds one parcel to those holdings in their lifetime. The next generation is expected to continue to run these holdings for the younger ones coming up. Not everyone in the family is cut out to manage that portfolio, however that person or persons that is charged with managing that said portfolio are always expected to take care of those family members that would have pissed that family legacy away in less than 5-10 years. It's quite a burden on the one that chooses to stay and run that business, it's not for the faint of heart. Lot easier to go get a town job and live with the luxuries that type of life commands. |
Cattle feeders quit complaining
